Global PC microprocessor shipments increased substantially to all-time record levels for a single quarter, according to new data from market research firm IDC.
The data indicates that the PC processor unit shipments rose 23% in the third quarter of 2009, sequentially, while in terms of revenue, the PC processor market grew more than 14% sequentially to $7.4 billion
According to the report, mobile PC processors, which include Intel’s Atom processors designed for mini-notebook PCs increased by 35.7% sequentially. Desktop PC processors grew by 11.4% quarter over quarter and x86 server processors grew 12.2% quarter over quarter.
In the quarter, Intel earned 81.1% share of the worldwide PC processor market’s unit shipments, a share gain of 2.2%, while AMD earned 18.7%, a loss of 2.0%, and VIA Technologies earned 0.2%.
By form factor, Intel earned 88% share in the mobile PC processor segment, a gain of 1.1%, AMD finished with 11.9%, a loss of 0.7% while VIA earned 0.2%. In the PC server/workstation processor segment, Intel finished with 90.4% market share, a gain of 0.5% and AMD earned 9.6%, a loss of 0.5%. In the desktop PC processor segment, Intel earned 72.2%, a gain of 2.0% and AMD earned 27.4%, a loss of 1.9%. VIA earned 0.3% share, according to the report.
Shane Rau, director of semiconductors personal computing research at IDC, said: The story about 3Q09 leads with Atom processors being sold in mini-notebooks manufactured and sold in China. While Atom processors led the PC processor market to reach record unit shipments, on the revenue side, their low average selling price led to notable price erosion, more than 7%. As a result, while market shipments rose 23.0% compared to 2Q09, market revenue grew less, 14.1% compared to 2Q09.”
IDC has raised its forecast for PC processor unit shipments in 2009 to over 300m units and a unit growth rate of 1.5% compared to 2008. Despite raising its forecast for 2009, IDC is conservative about early 2010.
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